Tripura Violence: “Temples-Mosques Stand Next To Each Other In State, Never Witnessed Such Incident,” Says Mosque’s Caretaker

“Tripura is such a state where many temples-mosques are adjacent to each other. Never before such incident has happened,” says Salim. 

Incidents of communal violence against Hindus in neighboring Bangladesh led to tension between the Hindu and Muslims communities in India’s north eastern state of Tripura. Far-right organisation Vishwa Hindu Parishad took out rallies at different places in Tripura against the violence against Hindus in Bangladesh. In some places, the rallies took a violent turn and there were reports of arson, looting and violence from many places. It was also revealed in some reports that mosques were also targeted by Hindutva organizations and incidents of vandalism were carried out there. The state police have denied such incidents and booked 102 people, including Supreme Court lawyers, journalists and human rights activists, for posting on social media about these incidents.

A team of HW News has reached Tripura to verify the claims made by both sides. The team reached the venue of the incident, spoke to the people affected by this incident: Jama Masjid of Krishna Nagar in Agartala, capital of Tripura. The team also spoke to the caretaker of the mosque and others around the affected areas in order to bring all the aspects to fore for our audience and readers. The person involved in the maintenance of the mosque spoke to the team on condition of anonymity. In this article, we will address this person by the name of Salim, which is not his real name.

Referring to the incident, Salim says that Tripura is such a state where many temples-mosques are adjacent to each other, yet never before such news has come to the fore. There is respect for each other’s religion between the two communities. “This is what I have seen since I am here. In such a situation, such incidents make the mind sad,” he said.

Salim further told that on October 21, the day the mosque was vandalized, he was not present there. But when he returned, he saw that the windows of the mosque were broken, the CCTV camera had been broken. He told that nothing like this had ever happened before that day. Regarding the identity of the perpetrators of this incident, Salim said that he does not know who did this.

A nearby person complained about the incident to the police, after which the police took steps for the safety of the people in that area. Salim further told that there is no settlement of Muslims around this mosque. “The houses of the people coming to the mosque are far from here. Only Hindu people take care of this place,” he told.

He also told that years ago this mosque was closed, then Hindu brothers together helped in opening it. In Tripura, Hindus and Muslims live together in different places, in a street, but such incidents are new, he stressed.

The team of HW News reached another mosque in the capital Agartala– Jama Masjid of Chandrapur– as there were reports that some people had reached there with the intention of attacking the mosque.

The secretary there Razak Mian told that on October 21, they had gone home after offering prayers. They were told by phone that some people are standing outside the mosque and trying to enter inside. Those who were present there told HW News that when the rioters tried to enter the mosque, the people present there, who came from both the communities, formed a big “human chain” and stopped them from entering enter the mosque. Those trying were not allowed inside. Razak says that the matter was resolved that day, then on October 22, two boys came by scooty and fled after throwing the pig meat in the mosque. He said that he did not know who those people were. He complained about this matter to the police on 24 October. Razak Mian said that the police say they are investigating the matter but till now no accused has been identified nor has any arrest been made.

Police have registered a complaint in both the cases. Police say that investigation is still on in the case.

This is the first ground report in the series of Ground Report coverage of the ‘Tripura Violence’ case. HW News will bring in more such reports from ground in the coming days.